We all have stories to tell. Seeing a TW play, one might be reluctant to even try. Williams's life growing up in the South when he was still Tom was so full of family drama, extraordinary characters, and unexpressed passions, our own childhoods and youthful days may seem way too tame and ordinary. Tom used writing as a way to not explode or sink into depression, even from a fairly young age. We're so used to associating "tortured" with "artist" that one couldn't be blamed for thinking that happy childhoods don't produce great art.
I've been tossing this topic around in my mind for years now. When I was doing so aloud the other day, my dear spouse pointedly reminded me that I'd already made a name for myself creating an indelible stage character with Pamela clearly inspired by my mother.
Speaking of which, Tennessee's plays, being often quite autobiographical, tread on thin ice at times. From the book, about his mother, Edwina's response to first seeing The Glass Menagerie:
“All Edwina’s homilies, aphorisms, and idioms, with their particular quality of denial, were absorbed by Williams and reenacted by Amanda. When Edwina first saw herself re-created on stage, as she sat with her son at the Chicago opening, Williams recalled, she “looked like a horse eating briars. She was touching her throat and clasping her hands and quite unable to look at me.” Later, backstage, Laurette Taylor asked her, “Well, Mrs. Williams, how did you like yourself?” “Myself?” Edwina said grandly, rising above what she saw as Taylor’s impertinence.”
Excerpt From: John Lahr. “Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh.”
My posts have been coming out less frequently. Dear Reader, be of good cheer. I'm beginning some "serious writing" that not only demands that I focus mostly there, but also, in spite of my loquacious nature, I shan't talk about yet. I've finally learned how NOT to puncture the balloon of emerging creative thought.
Also, I'm reading John Lahr's delicious, 800-page bio aloud for my honey and me, and that tends to keep me from my keyboard more than ever! If you like biographies, do check out Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh. Fab. U. Lous.